Kent Bush: Those who don’t vote in November may decide the winner

I know politics makes strange bedfellows, but I would give up a lot of sleep before I got into bed with someone who took personal shots at my family or me.

Donald Trump ran roughshod over 16 other would-be candidates and now many of them are lining up to be his back-up dancers at the convention.

On Tuesday, Bernie Sanders endorsed Hillary Clinton because what he hated most about her is that she is beating him — well, that and the potential felonies and mishandling of classified information.

“Hillary Clinton will make an outstanding President,” Sanders said — forgetting months of allegations and personal attacks. “I am proud to stand with her today.”

Several of my friends on social media were truly disturbed when Sanders decided to endorse Clinton, but he doesn’t have many choices when you get right down to it. It was nice to see how many idealistic friends and followers I have who truly believed Sanders was leading a movement.

By the time you have risen to this point in politics, those shiny ideals are always tarnished. Like children in a divorce, character and ethics get traded back and forth in the political arena.

Just about the only other person who seems excited publicly about supporting Clinton for President is her opponent.

“I know her (Hillary Clinton) and she would make a good president,” Trump said. Of course he said it in 2008, but that might be the best endorsement Clinton has received outside of current or former residents of the White House.

I know Bill Clinton supports her but he probably just wants his name back on the mailbox at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

The GOP race got really personal.

I don’t know how Ted Cruz and Ben Carson can take those shots from Trump and still support him. I appreciate the “Never Trump” movement for saying no. Even low energy Jeb Bush said he wasn’t going to vote at all to avoid voting for Trump or Clinton. Either that or he just couldn’t muster up the energy to get to the ballot box.

Other big money supporters are having an equally difficult time picking a favorite in 2016. When pressed on how a man of his political influence could be thinking of not even voting in this election, Charles Koch joked: “If I had to vote for cancer or heart attack, why would I vote for either?”

The billionaire makes a good point. Does it really matter to you if you are eaten alive by a bear or a lion? It is hard to say which I would prefer.

I still come back to the fact that one of these two — Clinton or Trump — will win in November. As Paul Ryan explained to a voter who questioned him for supporting Trump, this is a “binary decision” — there is no nuance. You vote for Trump, Clinton, virtually waste your vote or don’t vote at all.

When voters do enter the voting booth, a vast majority will support Clinton or Trump. Those decisions won’t be that complicated. Almost all Republicans will pick Trump. Almost all Democrats will check the box next to Clinton’s name. If a voter supported Sanders, there are few things about Trump that they would find appealing. If they supported Ted Cruz or Jeb Bush, it is unlikely that Clinton would seem preferable to anyone, even Trump.

John McCain picked Sarah Palin as his running mate because Barack Obama had not selected Clinton after he defeated her in the primary.

But how many people who ever considered supporting Clinton would have any interest in Palin and vice versa? Palin being a woman wasn’t enough to woo Clinton voters.Because parties are what they are, this may be a race to see which party can actually get its voters to the polls. The people who vote may not be as important as those who are disappointed in their party’s ticket and stay home in November.

The 2016 election is a true indictment of the primary process from both sides of the aisle. Both parties should change their processes. I doubt either of them will.

— Kent Bush is publisher of Shawnee (Oklahoma) News-Star and can be reached at kent.bush@news-star.com.